


Charity Stolen

by stellacanta



Series: Rewind. Reset. [6]
Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, M/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-18 01:15:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17571533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellacanta/pseuds/stellacanta
Summary: They were two broken people. It was fortunate that their frayed edges lined up perfectly to blend into one seamless whole.





	Charity Stolen

**Author's Note:**

> This is a direct sequel to Stealing Charity. I think a few people have wanted to know what happens at the end of that one :P

Therion stared when he saw a mug get placed in front of him. A moment later a familiar face came into view. He sighed when Cyrus slid into the chair across from here. "What do you want?"

"Can a man not say hello to a traveling companion now?"

Therion resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Cyrus rarely went out drinking with the rest of them. Whatever this was, he doubted this was as innocent as Cyrus deciding he wanted to go drinking with Therion out of the blue. He scanned the room and frowned when he noticed a certain blonde in the corner of the room. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw AIfyn turn around and glance at them. AIfyn's eyes widened when their gazes met, and apothecary quickly turned back around.

His eyes narrowed. Bingo.

"So, Alfyn didn't put you up to this then," he asked apropos of nothing.

It was almost funny seeing how badly Cyrus startled at hearing their apothecary's name. "N- no why would he do that? Besides, I'd rather be drinking with you than with him, that man has a ridiculously high tolerance for alcohol you realize- I for one would not be able to keep up. I don't know why you would bring him up seeing as how I'm drinking with you, not him."

Therion sighed and gestured towards Alfyn's back in the corner of the tavern. "Now don't play coy with me professor, you rarely come drinking with us, and it's pure coincidence that Alfyn happens to be in the room with us, huh? I even saw him glancing over in this direction a moment ago." He watched as Cyrus' face blanched. well, that was a good of a confirmation as any he would get. "You know, I don't think I've ever saw him drink alone before. Maybe, we should join him."

Cyrus reached out to grab his arm as he stood up. "Please don't, he wouldn't like that." The professor seemed conflicted as he stared down at the table, unable to meet his gaze. "Okay, I'll admit it, AIfyn did suggest that I share a drink with you." Cyrus looked up at Therion. "But I would have done it even if Alfyn hadn't suggested it. You're an interesting fellow, Therion. I'd be delighted to converse more with you." There was such a hopeful grin on Cyrus' face that Therion almost felt bad about dashing his hopes. (Almost)

Therion tore his arm out of Cyrus' grasp. "Well then, if all you wanted to do was talk, you shouldn't have given into AIfyn's suggestion so easily."

There was a pained grin on Cyrus' face. "Ah."

"Exactly." He paused and grabbed his mug. "Did Alfyn ever tell you exactly why he thought I would need company?"

"Well, not exactly-"

"-He just said that I looked lonely and could use the company, right?" Therion sighed and shook his head. "Next time, tell him to talk to me himself if he thinks I could use the company.'' He finished off the rest of his drink and turned to leave. "I think I'm going to head back now. You know where to find me if you want to chat."

"Ah I- see. I bid you a good night then."

"Good night professor, don't stay up too late."

He passed by Alfyn on his way out the door. Therion turned towards him as if to say something, his mouth half open with words just at the tip of his tongue. He closed it a moment later and shook his head. The door closed with a satisfying thud when he left the tavern. (He never saw Alfyn turn towards his direction when he left.)

…

It didn’t take long for Alfyn to show up in their shared inn room. Therion was laying awake when he heard the door to the room open softly with a click. He half turned to watch the apothecary carefully enter the room, trying to be as silent as possible so as to not disturb their inn roommates.

They weren’t lucky enough to have a room to just themselves tonight. Across the room in the other bed, he could hear the sounds of Tressa snoring lightly. The gremlin had fallen asleep not long after hitting the bed and had admonished him not to stay up too late. Ophilia, the other unfortunate soul who had drawn lots to share a room with him and Alfyn, had simply bade him a good night and requested that he try not to drink too much at the tavern.

One of the boots that Alfyn removed made a rather loud clatter when the apothecary dropped it onto the ground. Theiron and Alfyn tensed and watched as on the other bed Tressa grumbled a bit in her sleep and turned over in the bed. Ophilia didn’t seem to react in her sleep. There was a sheepish look on Alfyn’s face as he removed the other boot more gently and slipped onto the bed next to Therion.

The space between the two had grown, Therion noted with his eyebrows furrowed, Alfyn was all but clinging to his side of the bed with how much space there was between them suddenly. He huffed; he didn’t like this one bit. “Is sharing a bed with me going to be uncomfortable for you now,” he asked, trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible out of consideration for the other two people in the room. “Because even if I don’t like it, I can ask to share a bed with Cyrus instead.”

“And leave me to share a bed with Olberic,” there was a teasing note in Alfyn’s response, and he didn’t need to see the apothecary’s face to know that the man was probably grinning right now. “That’s just a bit mean don’tcha think?”

“Then I’ll share a bed with Olberic if you’re going to whine about it. But honestly, do you have a problem with sharing a bed with me?”

There was a pause before Alfyn turned around to face Therion. He couldn’t help but notice the other man was biting his bottom lip. His eyes gravitated to that sight. It was so unfair, Therion thought to himself. How dare Alfyn draw attention to his lips like that, lips that he wanted to taste for as long as Alfyn would let him. “I mean, I dunno, I should be askin’ you that one I feel like.” Alfyn’s eyes flicked towards Therion’s own. “I mean, I don’t mind sharing a bed with you, Therion, I just know that sometimes I somehow end up cuddlin’ you in the middle of the night and I didn’t know if that was going to be causin’ problems for you or not.”

Therion had tensed when Alfyn had wondered if him sleeping with the sleep would be a problem for _him_. A retort about how he wasn’t going to molest Alfyn in the middle of the night was on the tip of his tongue. He relaxed when he heard Alfyn’s explanation. Oh. That was what was worrying Alfyn huh? Figures medicine man would be worried about him. It was one of the things that he liked about Alfyn, honestly, the man was so selfless sometimes. (And other times, he wondered if that same selflessness wasn’t going to get Alfyn hurt.) He shrugged. “I don’t mind. It’s nice waking up like that sometimes, makes me feel safe, protected.”

“Shucks, if you wanted to be cuddled more often you just had to ask.” Alfyn quickly closed the gap between the two and slung a warm arm over him. Therion half buried his face into the pillow so that Alfyn couldn’t see the blush that spread across his cheeks as he felt Alfyn play with the hairs on the back of his neck. “Sleep well, Therion,” the apothecary muttered sleepily as he began to drift off. “You deserve so much better than a broken person like me.”

Therion couldn’t sleep after that comment. He stared at Alfyn’s relaxed face for what seemed like hours. His eyes traced over eyelashes and the swell of Alfyn’s cheeks. The stubble on his chin and those honey blonde locks that didn’t seem to stick to one place. Idly, he found himself brushing away a stray clump that had fallen over Alfyn’s eyes. His breath caught when Alfyn, in his sleep, nuzzled lightly against his hand as he tucked it behind one ear. He watched as the other man’s lips parted in a sigh. “You’re wrong Alfyn,” he whispered to the sleeping figure inches from him. “It’s I who don’t deserve you.”

He fell asleep with those words echoing in his head.

…

“So, Alfyn then?” Therion resisted the urge to sigh when Cyrus took the seat next to him. They _really_ needed to stop meeting in taverns like this. “I see that you’ve been staring at our young apothecary friend for the past half hour we’ve been at this establishment.”

“Yes,” he said in his snottiest voice possible. “ _Alfyn_. Should I commend you for noticing, professor, or is this a sign I’m being so obvious that _Tressa_ is going to start teasing me about this soon?” Therion really hoped that he wasn’t being obvious about his crush. He really didn’t need his companions to start commenting on it out of the blue. Tressa would tease him relentlessly about it and Primrose would just keep offering him pitying looks, he was sure. (He hated to imagine how the rest of the team would react.)

Out of the corner of his eye he watched as Alfyn and Primrose conversed in hushed tones. Alfyn had his head down and Primrose was rubbing his back with her head tilted towards his. The light in the tavern glinted off the bracelets she wore, and he grimaced at how close the two seemed. Like lovers almost. He made a noise and took two big gulps of the mead in front of him. (Much better than the last place, he had to admit.)

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about our young merchant friend commenting on your behavior anytime soon. Au contraire, she made the intriguing observation that you seemed more morose than usual and I took it upon myself to investigate.”

Therion snorted at Cyrus’ observations as the man continued to watch his reactions. More morose than usual? A paraphrase, he was sure. Knowing Tressa, she probably said something like he was being a grumpier bastard than usual. That would be more like the gremlin. “Ah, and you’ve deduced that Alfyn is the cause of all of this?”

“You have been staring at those two for quite a while now,” Cyrus pointed out. (Therion couldn’t help but notice the man didn’t have a mug of anything in front of him this time around.) “Oh, it wasn’t like you were being obvious about it, but, every once in a while, I do see you glance in their direction when you don’t think anyone is aware. They do seem to be quite close now, so I don’t think they have noticed, but that is not enough to hide from my discerning eyes.”

And how nice of Cyrus to mention it too. He glanced over at Primrose and Alfyn, and quickly wished he hadn’t. Alfyn was now looking at Primrose with a self-depreciating smile, and Primrose chuckled at something he said. Therion couldn’t help but keep watching as their eyes met and the self-depreciating smile on Alfyn’s face turned into something and more genuine. He looked away quickly, unable to continue staring for a moment longer. “Yep, they sure do.” He took another swig of his mead, if only to wash down the bitterness that welled up in him.

“This displeases you, does it not? I have noticed that you have been staring more often at Alfyn ever since Primrose took it upon herself to converse with him. Ah, and the expression on your face grows more and more infuriated the longer you stare at them.”

“And do you have anything better to do than to comment on what I’m doing right now, professor?” His tone was more forceful than he intended it to be and Cyrus looked taken aback by his question. “Look, if there’s something you wanted to talk to me about, fine, but could you do me a favor and _stop_ bringing up Alfyn? I don’t see why, you’re so interested in us all of a sudden.”

There was a pause before Cyrus spoke again. “It is because your relationship with him has appeared to be more strained as of late, and some of us have begun to comment on it.” Therion sighed and rolled his eyes. Oh, _that_ was what got everyone so worried huh? “When H’aanit asked Alfyn whatever could have caused relations between you to grow so fraught of late, he simply laughed and responded by saying that he hadn’t been a very good friend to you recently. It is apparent that something had occurred between the two of you. Olberic found it simply preposterous that Alfyn could have done something to test your relationship so, as did I when H’aanit told us what she was told, but it seems that there may be some kernel of truth to Alfyn being the cause of this.”

Therion blinked when he saw Primrose and Alfyn suddenly lean away from each other. The dancer turned to her side and lightly slapped Alfyn’s arm and said something encouraging, from the way that Alfyn’s expression brightened and he nodded, before the apothecary stood and started walking right towards him and Therion. Huh, well that was interesting. He found himself wondering what they were talking about all of a sudden as Alfyn smoothly interjected himself between them. “Sorry about this professor, but I’m going to need to borrow Therion for a second. There’s something we need to talk about.” Alfyn gave Therion a look, one that was soft but hinted at a certain heaviness deep beneath. Therion could only stare. Well then.

“O-oh. Well that is fine, we were just ending this conversation were we not Theri- Therion?”

Therion stood up and grabbed Alfyn by the arm as he pulled him towards the door. “Yep, come on medicine man, I feel like whatever we’re going to have a chat about shouldn’t be _spied upon_ by some gossiping companions of ours right now.” Cyrus was left gaping as the two left suddenly.

Meanwhile, Primrose simply watched the pair leave with an enigmatic smile on her face.

…

It was cold outside the tavern and Alfyn shivered a bit when he stepped outside. Therion had drawn his cloak closer to him and he stared at Alfyn, wondering if he should offer the other man his cloak for warmth. (Or his scarf, at the very least.) “Are you alright? If it’s too cold we could talk back at the inn-“

“-no, it’s fine, it’s going to be quick so we shouldn’t need to head to the inn to talk.” Alfyn took a deep breath and offered Therion a shaky smile, his head going back to rub the back of his head. “Y’know, Primrose threatened to chop your balls when I told her about what’chya done, but I think she got the gist of things when I explained it to her, and she told me that I was bein’ an idiot and overthinkin’ things. Which, I’m good at that so-“ Therion couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. Alfyn was blabbering, he was cute when he blabbered about nothing nervously. “-anyway, I wanted to apologize, for the other night. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push you away like that.”

“It’s fine,” Therion mumbled as he looked away. “I came onto you too strongly anyway. Can we go back in now or did you have more-“

“-no Therion, lemme finish.” Alfyn closed his eyes for a moment as if to steel himself before opening them again and looking at Therion with that same soft look he always did. _Don’t look at me like that_ , Therion thought to himself. _Don’t look at me like I’m_ \- “Prim told me that I was an idiot for denyin’ myself happiness when it’s right in front of my eyes, and I agree with her I was bein’ an ass.” The look in Alfyn’s gaze changed somehow, somehow becoming even softer and with a hint of something that Therion refused to name. “Therion, I’m always gonna feel something for Zeph, but I can’t have Zeph. He has Mercedes, and I’d _never_ do anything to ruin that, and, y’know, I’m happy that he’s happy in the end. Yeah, I’d be happier if he were with me, but, well, he ain’t and I might not ever see him again and-“ Alfyn cut himself out with a shaky breath. “-Therion, I- I love you. I- I don’t know if you feel the same way about me, considerin’ what happened but, if you’ll have me I’ll do my darnest to make you the happiest man alive.”

“O-oh.” Therion stared blankly at Alfyn as he slowly began to make sense of his words. Alfyn loved him? Wait, so- “You weren’t rejecting my advances the other night? When you left, I thought that meant you didn’t feel the same way.”

Alfyn gave a weak laugh and looked away. “Uh, well that wasn’t a rejection, exactly. Notice I never said that I _didn’t_ feel anything for you, just that you deserved better than some guy who was still hung up on his childhood friend.” Therion gaped as the wheels slowly began to turn in his head. A blush began to form on Alfyn’s cheeks as he shyly looked towards Therion. “You’re too good for me, Therion. I know you probably think you’re the scum of the world and all, but, when I see you, I see a good man whose been hurt by so many people, and yet still preserves some of that goodness deep inside. I don’t want to be yet another person whose wronged you, even if I wouldn’t mind if you shoved me up against a wall to make out with me again.”

Those words cause something in him to click into place and Therion smirked. “Who’s to say I won’t?”

“Eh?”

Therion shoved Alfyn up against the wall and quietly thanked Aeber (who was a lot more fitting for this situation than Alfreic) that no one was outside or looking in their direction. He leaned into Alfyn, close enough that their breaths lingered, and he could see just how wide Alfyn’s pupils had become. “Oh, and the answer by the way?”

“Yeah?” Alfyn was breathing heavily and the flush on his cheeks had spread down his neck.

He smiled. “Of course I’ll have you, Alfyn. I’ll take as much of you as I’m able to take.”

Whatever Alfyn was going to say was swallowed up by the kiss the two shared immediately after.

…

Therion was resting his head on Alfyn’s lap when a shadow passed over him. He groaned and opened his eyes to glare up at the person who was standing over them. That person turned out to be one smirking Primrose. “What the hells do you want,” he growled at the dancer. Alfyn swatted him lightly for his rudeness.

“Oh? I’m not allowed to be curious about how you two are doing now?” He did not like the look in Primrose’s eyes right now, but he could hold that in for now. “I’m glad to see that you two are a lot happier than before, but a little birdy told me something interesting.”

He sighed and closed his eyes. Therion had a feeling he knew who the person Primrose was referring to was. “Don’t tell me, Cyrus?”

Primrose’s delighted laugh was all the confirmation he needed. (Knew it.) “But you do know the reason that Tressa hasn’t teased you about your little _crush_ was because we suspected that you two were already together and were simply having a lover’s quarrel, right?”

His eyes snapped open and he felt Alfyn’s hand stop from where it was idly rubbing his head. What in the-

“Just something for you two to think about.” Primrose gave a saucy wink as she left the two to wander back to where the rest of the group was resting.

The pair were silent for a good moment before Alfyn broke the silence. “Somehow, I feel like I was better off not knowing that.”

Therion snorted. “You and me both, Alfyn.”

**Author's Note:**

> **Press - for divine banter**
> 
>  
> 
> Dohter: …  
> Aeber: …  
> Dohter: … hmm.  
> Aeber: Something the matter, Dohter?  
> Dohter: It’s Alfyn and Therion, you see.  
> Dohter: You mentioned that Alfyn may have stolen Therion’s heart without noticing  
> Dohter: But I can’t help but feel that Therion has stolen Alfyn’s in turn.


End file.
